Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Tambudzai lives in a run-down youth hostel in downtown Harare. She is anxious about her prospects after leaving a stagnant job as a copy writer, where also her ideas get taken by another member of staff. She then takes a job as a teacher but faces a breakdown after dealing with one of the students. For a while she is in a mental hospital, then leaves to move in with her cousin. A chance meeting one day with an old colleague leads her to take a job running eco tours. Will she finally make a steady life for herself or will it all come crashing down again?

Whilst this is described as a tense and psychologically charged novel in the synopsis, I certainly didn't get that from this novel. It was interesting being set in Africa and whilst I finished it I can't say I liked it. Just something about it made it a slog of a read.

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.

Thank you Faber for my netgalley copy of this book! This is a cleverly written and powerful novel and well deserving of its shortlisting. I was transported and fully emotionally invested

Although assured that this works as a stand-alone novel, I feel this is very much the third part of a trilogy. It was hard to get to grips with, I was constantly aware of missing backstory. I feel the need to read the first two books and then return to this book for a more informed experience..

I was so, so desperate to read this book - and it did not disappoint. While difficult to follow at times, it tells a searing and powerful story which really absorbed me. It is certainly an eye-opening and unique read. Not easy, but compelling, and definitely worth picking up.

I had difficulty reading this second person styled narrative .. not sure why she chose it .. but it feels distancing for me .. we are observing her even as we are closer to her inner feelings as she tries to navigate a job and go about her disappointing life. And afraid I didn't get on with this ..very grim .. depressing ...

This is a hard book to get to grips with - the style can be vague, the characters elusive - however most of the time I did enjoy it. I always like to see why books are shortlisted for prizes and this does read as a work of great accomplishment, but it's a book you do need to concentrate on.

Tambudzai is a Zimbabwean lady, struggling to find her place in life - every job she turns to goes wrong, and the accommodation she lives in is awful. We read between the lines to uncover her emotional instability, and the potential she could have if only she could get the opportunity.

This Mournable Body is a beautifully written, psychologically insightful but, for me, excruciatingly uncomfortable story.

The main character, Tambudzai, is trying to prove herself in Harare and forget the village homestead she grew up in. The trouble is that Tambu is deeply unlikeable: from the very start when she witnesses a sexual assault on a bus, through her bitterness, pride and snobbery it’s clear that this is a deeply flawed character. But it’s written in the second person, putting you, the reader, in the shoes of this sour, selfish woman.

It’s clever and it’s skilful, and I suppose if I were braver it would be an amazingly route to empathy, but I’m afraid it just made me defensive and distressed. The critical consensus is that This Mournable Body is a masterpiece, but be sure to go into it ready to be bracingly challenged and with your sense of self intact!

i got to about 6% it is rubbish and I cannot read it. I need 100 characters so I dont know what else to say sorry

I had not realised that this was the third in a trilogy when I read it. I suspect this has affected my reading experience as the writer assumes you know what has already passed and does not refresh the reader with these details. In this sense I struggled to know enough about the characters and their backgrounds.
I have mixed feelings about the book. I loved the setting, the insight to life in Zimbabwe, the political backdrop, the experiences of women and management of mental health back in the 80’s – but I kept feeling like something more was going to develop in the story and it never quite did.
Don’t get me wrong you get the insights into the life of Tambudzai who frustrated by white colleagues dining out on her achievement, takes the principled decision to move to live in a run-down youth hostel. Feeling unworthy and going backwards in her thirties is hard to bear. She moves to a widow’s boarding house and eventually finds work as a teacher. But humiliated, life does not get easier, it gets harder still.
Maybe the lack of connection was the deliberated decision to write in the second person. I just didn’t feel adequately entertained by the book. The descriptors and writing has a beauty to it, but the story didn’t quite engage. Some of the ways the new characters are introduced left me perplexed and caused the story to feel disjointed. This was such a shame as the story should have felt tense, bitter and emotive. Instead I felt removed, remote; an impassive bystander likened to drifting away from something opaque that I so wanted to be gripped by; to be affected by the injustice and lowest demonstrations of human behaviour. Maybe one I need to go back and re-read it to appreciate it more, whether I will seems unlikely.

PUBLISHER’S DESCRIPTION:

In this tense and psychologically charged novel, Tsitsi Dangarembga channels the hope and potential of one young girl and a fledgling nation to lead us on a journey to discover where lives go after hope has departed.
Here we meet Tambudzai, living in a run-down youth hostel in downtown Harare and anxious about her prospects after leaving a stagnant job. At every turn in her attempt to make a life for herself, she is faced with a fresh humiliation, until the painful contrast between the future she imagined and her daily reality ultimately drives her to a breaking point.


NO SPOILERS

The first thing which hits you about this book is that it is written in the second person. (See what I did there?) I know some readers have found this irritating and hard to read but I found it rather fascinating and after a few sentences it becomes natural. It feels as though Dangarembga is talking to me and although it is written in the present tense, the third person shifts it into the future and it becomes somehow directive. “This is how it’s going to be”. It is a little disturbing but then we should all be disturbed by such a history. So perhaps it’s more IF you do this then this will happen. Take heed! As a way of telling a history which needs to be heard though, it’s rather brilliant.

The writing is beautiful, almost poetic at times but effortlessly so. It flows so easily when read that some of its beauty can be missed and this is a book which would deserve a second reading though not from me. Whilst Dangarembga is a skilled writer, my favourite type of writer, it took me quite a while to finish the book as I mostly wanted to leave the protagonist, Tambu/me to stew in her/my own misery.

All in all though, this is a book worth reading. I understand it is a sequel to two previous books so perhaps I would have more sympathy if I’d read them first.


Thank you to NetGalley and Faber & Faber for the Advanced Reader Copy of the book, which I have voluntarily reviewed.

THIS MOURNABLE BODY by TSITSI DANGAREMBGA

And with this one, I have now completed the trilogy.

It was an odd reading experience. It some ways these books were like nothing I have ever read before. They are slow-going and heavy on the mind and heart. But there is something deeply rewarding about reading them.

With a focus on this novel in particular, I found it difficult to read but I missed it when I wasn’t reading it.

Dangarembga’s writing style is such that, at times, it doesn’t seem to be English even though it is written in English, does that make sense? I suppose it is the cultural difference and I thoroughly enjoyed that, but I can’t lie and say that it wasn’t difficult to read because it was. I feel challenged by this series and sometimes that is exactly what I want from a book.

Therefore, if you fancy a challenge, then I can highly recommend this series of books.

I am aware that I haven’t mentioned anything about the plot or themes and I guess I just didn’t feel like it. You’ll have to read it to find out...

I didn't realise this was part of a series when I requested it, and was then assured it was okay to read as a standalone. I didn't find it like that at all - I really struggled to work out what was happening. What I did understand was pretty bleak, but the writing is unusual, and exciting.

It wasn't for me - but give it a try! It's interesting if nothing else!

I received an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Faber and Faber, and the author Tsitsi Dangarembga.
I'm afraid I really didn't enjoy this at all. Although dealing with some important issues, it was hard to follow with a disjointed second-person narrator, and fundamentally unlikeable characters. Roundabout and evasive, I found myself rushing to get to the end, and wishing I hadn't persevered.
This is the third book in a series, and although it is positioned as a standalone offering, other reviews suggest it is a difficult one to follow if you have not read the first two.
Not for me. 2 stars.

I found this really hard work to read. The way it's written is difficult to get into.
Although it's an interesting book, I had now real knowledge about Zimbabwe before. It's not for me.
I subsequently found out its part of a trilogy so perhaps it might have been better of I read the others first.

Set in Zimbabwe this is a novel which showcases a country and the city Harare under a very strong spotlight. All worthy subject matter and very interesting in its own right but it felt too heavy for a novel. It was written in the second person as well which I found hard to read. This is actually the third in a sequel so I felt I was missing as I haven't read the earlier books.

I did find out whatthe title means - it was apparently inspired by an essay by Teju Cole in which he asserts that some bodies are more “mournable” than others. I just found that this novel was confusing and not for me.

THIS MOURNABLE BODY is set at the end of the 20th Century in Zimbabwe – a country devastated by political turmoil and a declining economy at the hands of Western sanctions and governmental mismanagement. Against this backdrop of civil instability, Tsitsi Dangarembga presents the inner life of her protagonist, Tambudzai, a character who first appeared aged 14 in her 1988 novel, Nervous Conditions. For readers who have followed the acclaimed Nervous Conditions trilogy and grown with the series, it is interesting to meet Tambudzai again as she approaches middle age. Interesting, but also heart-breaking and deeply disappointing to see her continuously struggle to establish herself as an adult, form meaningful relationships and shake off the demons of her past.

Tambudzai feels younger than she is, in no small part because of the impact her formative years have had on her. Dangarembga presents her as young Black woman who is almost suspended in time, psychologically restricted by her colonial past. We see this most in her internalised anti-Blackness, the deep-seated inferiority with which she views herself and the way she processes her interactions with others (for example, when the singular being used by a stranger who addresses her, instead of the plural, Tambudzai notes that this denotes her worthlessness in this woman’s eyes). This, undoubtedly, causes her to make a series of chaotic and impulsive decisions which are compounded by a carousel of bad luck.

THIS MOURNABLE BODY explores incredibly important subject matter but is cut through with a biting, almost satirical, wit that provides momentary respite from the novel’s darkness. It is written in the second person, which can make this a challenging narrative but also nudges the reader into Tambudzai’s shoes, forcing us to be complicit in her nonsense! Dangarembga’s turn of phrase, particularly when describing Tambudzai’s internal monologue, is both uncomfortable and hilarious. I often found myself squirming with shame at Tambudzai’s ridiculousness and laughing at loud at the author’s dark humour. This novel is punctuated by some truly relatable moments – especially Tambudzai’s WILD stint as a secondary school teacher – which both break-up and highlight the instability and deterioration of the protagonist.

The title of THIS MOURNABLE BODY was inspired by an essay by Teju Cole in which he asserts that some bodies are more “mournable” than others. Tsitsi Dangarembga uses this springboard to illuminate how Black lives, specifically the lives of Black women in Africa, are intensely mournable, despite the fact that they are often ignored by society. Through her anti-heroine, Tambudzai, Dangarembga clearly paints a life made mournable by tragic circumstance.

This is a really original and intriguing read that certainly seems worthy of the international praise and interest it is receiving. Really cleverly written and compelling.

My thanks to Faber & Faber for a digital edition of ‘This Mournable Body’ by Tsitsi Dangarembga in exchange for an honest review. It is currently shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize.

Tambudzai (Tambu) is currently living in a run-down youth hostel in downtown Harare. She’s aware that she might be asked to leave due to her age. She is in her late 30s, so not an unreasonable request. She is also anxious about her prospects after leaving a stagnant job. She takes a teaching position that doesn’t go well. The contrast between the future she imagined and her daily reality ultimately drives her to a breaking point.

This is the final book of Tsitsi Dangarembga’s semi-autobiographical trilogy that opened with ‘Nervous Conditions’ in 1988. It had chronicled Tambudzai’s girlhood in Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe) in the 1960s. The second book, ‘The Book of Not’, was published in 2006 and picked up Tambu’s story and focused on her further education and subsequent desire to get as far away from her home village as possible.

After reading a detailed synopsis of this second book it appears to have concluded with Tambu leaving her job as a copywriter after a white colleague is unfairly given credit for her work. This leads naturally into the opening of ‘This Mournable Body’.

Some aspects of Tambu’s earlier life are provided, though I feel that I would have fared better if I had sought out details of the earlier novels in advance. I found older Tambu quite difficult to empathise with and this might have been different if I followed her journey throughout the trilogy. As I appreciate that this trilogy is an important work of African literature, I am hoping to read the novels in order in the near future.

‘This Mournable Body’ is written in the second person, which I found a difficult narrative style to engage with. There were episodes in the novel that definitely held my attention: Tambu’s frustration with her distracted students, her stay in a mental hospital, which was harrowing, and the surreal nature of the Eco Village Transit tourism venture.

I ended up going back and reading a second time, which definitely improved my experience. Even so, I felt as if I was looking in on Tambu’s life from a distance.

Edit: our ‘super-readers’ library group made up from members from across our County had recently been chosen via The Reading Agency as one of the national reading groups to ‘shadow’ the Booker Prize shortlist. We were assigned ‘This Mournable Body’. On 26 October we held a virtual meeting to discuss our experience of the novel.

In our discussion many of the same points that I made were raised by others about the narrative voice and the difficulty in reading the third book of a trilogy as a stand-alone. In addition, members noted the problems associated with having little foreknowledge of Zimbabwe’s history and culture.

As a group we have read the Booker Prize shortlist for a number of years so used to reading literary fiction; yet no one found it a particularly accessible novel.

A worthwhile and eye-opening read, this book taught me a lot about the harshness of life in Zimbabwe and the legacy of colonialism combined with corruption. Like many other readers, I think I would have connected with it and the narrator Tambu more if I'd read the two previous books (I didn't know it was the final in a trilogy until after I'd read it.) The narrative device 'you' didn't bother me - I experienced this as a first person novel and it wasn't because of this that I found Tambu distant and difficult. As the book shows, there are plenty of other reasons that have made her who she is.